The Los Angeles Dodgers can explain away a bad week. They can survive a bad month. They’ve developed enough October scars and earned enough championship rings to understand that baseball seasons are rarely linear. 

But what they absolutely can not do is beat themselves. 

“We need to start playing better baseball — our brand of baseball — which is not beating ourselves,” Miguel Rojas told the California Post recently in an exclusive interview. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after getting taken out during the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 1-0 loss to the Braves on Aug. 27, 2026 in Atlanta. AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser

Those words felt particularly prophetic after the Dodgers were swept by the Braves in Atlanta, dropping them to 11-13 in August and 24-24 since July 1.

On Tuesday night, the Dodgers put the tying run on third with nobody out in the ninth and stranded him. Wednesday, they recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth before allowing Atlanta to walk them off. Thursday, the bats disappeared entirely, striking out 11 times against Chris Sale in a 1-0 shutout loss.

Three games. Three different ways to lose.

Still, inside the Dodgers clubhouse, nobody is reaching for the panic button.

“We’ve been in that situation before. We’ve been against the wall. We’ve been on top,” Rojas said. “I think it’s because of the experience that we know we will turn it around.”

Kiké Hernández believes the Dodgers’ annual late-summer swoon has almost become predictable.

“If you really follow Dodger baseball the last three years, it’s almost like it’s a trend for the team to struggle around this time of the year,” Hernández told the California Post. “A little grind, a little tough stretch is not going to make us doubt or panic in any sense.”

There is also an unavoidable physical toll.

Shohei Ohtani reacts after striking out during the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ loss to the Braves on Aug. 27, 2026 in Atlanta AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser

Manager Dave Roberts noted that no team has logged more baseball — or more miles — than the Dodgers during their championship run.

“You’re talking about Seoul to New York to Tokyo to Canada,” Roberts told the California Post. “We have played more baseball than anyone.”

Roberts, however, refuses to make fatigue an excuse.

“We just don’t give ourselves that out,” he said. “It’s tough to be a champion, let alone repeat and try to three-peat.”

The Dodgers have spent the past two months looking remarkably ordinary when they were build to accomplish something extraordinary. But as the calendar turns to September, explanations matter less and championship habits matter more.

Rojas believes reinforcements are arriving, the team just got Tyler Glasnow back. Will Smith is on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Even Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to the mound soon. 

Come October, this team knows what it takes to win it all. 

But before they can chase history again, they need to heed their Game 7 World Series hero’s warning.

Stop beating themselves.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters